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Social media is a great starting point for a crafting business, but you’re going to want to expand elsewhere on the internet to maximize your online presence. There are two other considerations to selling online: creating a website or blog or selling on an eCommerce store.
Find a Domain Name
If you’re ready to create a website or blog, be sure to see if your domain name is available to use. You can purchase a domain name through a website builder or a web host, or you can buy it straight from a domain seller like domain.com. The price of a domain name varies but generally you shouldn’t have to pay more than $10 or $15 for one, unless it is a highly sought after domain. You may need to play around with a domain name to get one that matches as close to your business name as possible. I highly recommend sticking with a .com website when possible.
Website Builder
Creating a website or a blog to sell your craft items on sounds intimidating, but there are lots of options available depending on what you can afford and your skill level. If you are a complete beginner and don’t know a lot about creating a website, I would suggest to start with website builders like Wix, Kajabi, Squarespace, Weebly or Shopify. These platforms make it easy for anyone to get started selling their craft products with website templates and step-by-step walkthroughs. The downside to using these is that they can be quite expensive. Using these website builders requires that you pay monthly or yearly depending on which package you select.
If you don’t plan on selling directly on your website, you can use a lot of these services for free. Adding on an e-commerce store is when you end up having to pay extra. You could start out with a free blog where you can link your Facebook store to it until you can afford to have your own e-commerce shop through one of these website builders.
Website Host
Alternatively, a cheaper option that requires a little more website building knowledge is to use a web host like Bluehost or Go Daddy and then install WordPress onto your website to create a shop with WooCommerce. You have to pay for a web host yearly or monthly, but you’ll get a great price for whatever package you need. For instance, I use BlueHost for this website and I pay $4.95 a month for their hosting service. This package gives me unlimited websites and unlimited storage space. They offer a package as low as $2.75 a month. A web host will often include a free domain name to get you started as well.
Most website hosts make it easy to install WordPress so that you can get started building your website right away. It should be noted that wordpress.com and wordpress.org are two completely different options when it comes to building websites. The .com version is for bloggers who don’t plan on doing a lot of customization on their websites and the .org version is the option that gives you full control of your website.
Once WordPress is installed on your web host, you can install free or paid themes. Be sure to select a theme that allows you to add a WooCommerce shop so that you can start selling right away. WooCommerce takes a small percentage of your sales and allows you to let customers check out with PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay and more.
eCommerce Store
If the idea of a website gives you a headache, then you’ll want to start off with selling on an eCommerce platform like Etsy, Amazon Handmade, Artfire, Storenvy, and Big Cartel. eCommerce platforms like Etsy host everything for you, but you’ll also be competing with other crafters. Etsy isn’t free to use and you’ll pay transaction, listing and advertising fees, but they drive traffic to your shop. When you build your own website, you have to drive the traffic to it. With Etsy, they are driving the traffic to you which means more people will see your craft items right away.
I do not have experience with other eCommerce platforms, but I have been selling on Etsy for over 8 years now. I sold physical products like baby onesies and bibs for a while before I switched over to digital products. I have my own website and web host now, and I still continue to sell my products on Etsy. I highly recommend opening a shop on there when you are ready to expand from selling on social media only. You do have to follow their selling rules, but as long as you aren’t listing items that violate copyright and trademark laws, you will do just find on there. Grab 40 FREE Etsy listings by clicking HERE.
Payment Options
In a future post, I will discuss payment options in more detail for selling online. Having a quick and easy way for your customers to pay you will make things run smoothly. Be sure to check out all your options like PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, and Facebook Pay.
So Many Choices Out There
I hope that this post has given you plenty of options. It can feel overwhelming, but you’ll find which option works best for you after you do the research. You may have to try a few different options until you find one you are the most comfortable with, or you can be like me and have a few options at your disposal. If you have any questions, please ask me in the comments below!
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